Expert: Dan Pepper - 12/15/2009

Question
Im a truck driver & i done shoot women state to state &was about to publish it until I checked some online porn laws? Two questions, how do i find out about each jurisdiction as far as shooting porn in each state? Plus is it illegal to put two couples (they already sign model releases with no cost, they did it for free) on a website?

Answer
Jay,

The majority of states do not have any specific laws on the production of sexually-explicit content, so you would need to rely upon the laws regarding prostitution and pandering of each state.  You can view a list of these laws at http://prostitution.procon.org/viewresource.asp?resourceID=000119  California is the only state in the country which has affirmatively held that the production of such content does not constitute prostitution or pandering in most situations.

The model releases you have may or may not be effective for various reasons.  If it is illegal to shoot adult content in the state in which you did the production, the model releases you used there would be unenforceable.

Additionally, if the content you shot is considered to be obscene under the jurisdictions' applicable laws, then such act constitutes criminal activity.

Finally, you need to comply the federal record keeping and labeling requirements found at 18 U.S.C. 2257 and 28 C.F.R. 75 for any hosting or distribution of the content you have.  Violations of these laws carry a 5 year jail term.

In sum, I would STRONGLY suggest you retain a qualified attorney versed in this area of the law before you seek to move forward with your plans.